Chess is fundamentally a dynamic game. Each move changes the situation and the possibilities for both sides. No piece is ever identically as valuable as any other, and their scope changes from move to move.

The current generation of supergrandmasters plays unrelentingly dynamic chess, but a great deal of chess literature still deals with chess as if it were a predominantly static game.

Much traditional chess teaching is based around rules of thumb that might work well 'on average' or in 'typical' situations, but these rules may not equip players for the specific and sometimes exceptional situations that they face in their games.

In this book, Valeri Beim explains how to factor in dynamic considerations, and weigh initiative and time against material and other static factors. Topics include: dynamics, development, the king as a target, breakthrough, and the initiative.

Valeri Beim is a grandmaster who lives in Austria. He has won numerous tournaments and plays in the Austrian and German leagues. For many years he was the head trainer at the chess school in Odessa, and he was also the trainer of the Israeli Olympiad team.